It’s peak travel season, and I’ve packed up the blog and am heading to Substack. Maybe just for the summer. Maybe longer. Like any good adventure, I’m setting off not knowing exactly what I’m doing. Substack is new to me. But I like the concept. It’s all free and it’s simple. Any readers interested in […]
Heading to Substack Read More »
For readers in western Pennsylvania, John Bensink’s holiday novella should be especially heartwarming. Bonnie Kate Keller—divorced late in life, and still in shock from it—just can’t face Christmas alone in her home this year. When she fails to persuade…then pester…then guilt-trip her adult children to bring the grandchildren home for the holiday, she impulsively hits
Christmas on Interstate 80 Read More »
The blue Tesla Model S, gleaming in springtime sunshine, was clogging traffic, double-parked in front of Sweet Greens in downtown Bethesda as if the occupants were debating whether to eat there or one of the other three—or was it four?—organic-salad-in-a-compostable-bowl places on the block. The vehicular faux pas was no less offensive than the Range
Aunt Minna Worries About Heaven – a short story Read More »
[UPDATED December 9, 2023] Libby is a great and easy way to read ebooks for free. The app syncs with your local library, which provides access to a massive inventory of ebooks, including current bestsellers. Libby is free to download (for Android, IOS) and works on all major devices. You will need a library card
Ebooks for Free or Cheap Read More »
Forget overstated (if not borderline fraudulent) tourism-bureau promises of sunny days, warm temperatures, and other tropical delights that lure vacationers, snowbirds, and down-on-their luck types certain that relocating to Florida will turn around their life. The state that boasts the southern-most point in the continental U.S. shouldn’t market itself on its climate and theme parks,
Florida: Forget the Weather, It’s the News Read More »
In 1977, a father who could glimpse the future told this to his son while fishing off a dock in Ocean City, Maryland: “There will come a day in your lifetime, maybe not when you’re my age, maybe when you’re Pop’s age, that you will feel almost overwhelmed by the accumulation of all that will
A Father Sees The Future Read More »
Five Minute Fiction by Preston Pairo It starts out well enough. The bank teller asks me: “Good morning. Welcome to Bancs of the Americas, how may I assist you?” “Hi.” I slide my deposit slip and endorsed check through the flounder-thin opening in the inches-thick (presumably bulletproof) window that separates us. “I just have a
Closed For Your Convenience Read More »
August 19, 2018 About the time I started losing interest in baseball, Chris Clare, a minor league player in the Baltimore Orioles’ farm system, was assigned to the Frederick Keys from the Delmarva Shorebirds. Clare’s “promotion” in July 2017 likely wasn’t more than a transactional footnote to many beyond his family. A six-two, 175-pound shortstop,
Can Chris Clare Save Baseball? Read More »